JP7246938B2 - inspection equipment - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an inspection apparatus capable of accurately inspecting the appearance properties of end faces of minute objects to be inspected, such as electronic components.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an inspection apparatus as disclosed in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 5-288527) has been known as one of apparatuses for inspecting the appearance properties of electronic components and the like. This inspection apparatus has means for moving a printed circuit board placed on a table in the XY directions, and illumination means for illuminating a portion to be inspected on the printed circuit board, with a plurality of LEDs arranged in a dome shape. and a television camera for picking up an image of a portion to be inspected on the printed circuit board through a hole formed in the top of the illumination means.

According to this inspection apparatus, the portion to be inspected on the printed circuit board is illuminated by the illumination means, and an image of the portion to be inspected is captured by the television camera. By analyzing the image data captured in this way, it is determined whether the external appearance of the inspected portion is good or bad.

Conventionally, such an inspection apparatus has the same basic configuration in that it includes means for moving an object to be inspected, means for illuminating the object to be inspected, and means for capturing an image of the object to be inspected. , which is designed and modified in accordance with the shape of the object to be inspected and the part to be inspected.

For example, when inspecting the end face of a hexahedral electronic component (for example, a capacitor), the electronic component is conveyed in a predetermined conveying direction by an appropriate conveying mechanism, and at an inspection position set at a predetermined position during the conveyance. In addition, an illumination mechanism illuminates the front end surface of the electronic component from the front in the conveying direction, and an image pickup camera appropriately captures an image of the front end surface of the electronic component from an oblique front direction.

In this case, as the illumination mechanism, the above-described illumination means in which the LEDs are arranged in a dome shape is divided along a vertical plane perpendicular to the transport direction of the transport mechanism, and the forward part in the transport direction is an electronic It is configured to illuminate the front end face of the component.

In addition, the illumination mechanism has a through hole at a location where the LED is not arranged, and the imaging camera passes through the through hole to capture an image of the front end surface of the electronic component.

By the way, when inspecting the appearance properties of the front end face of an electronic component, in order to inspect it with high precision, the angle (elevation angle) formed by the transport direction and the imaging optical axis of the imaging camera should be as small as possible. It is preferable to provide an imaging camera to image the front end face of the electronic component from the front as much as possible. By imaging the front end face from the front, the maximum image data can be obtained, and a more accurate analysis can be performed.

Further, the illumination mechanism is arranged such that the illumination optical axis is as close to a right angle as possible to the front end face of the electronic component, in other words, the LED is arranged at a position as close to the transport path of the transport mechanism as possible. is preferred. In this way, by providing the LED at a position close to the transport path, it is possible to capture more reflected light from the front end face into the imaging camera arranged so that the elevation angle of the imaging optical axis is as small as possible. As a result, the image captured by the imaging camera becomes clearer. Thus, by obtaining such a sharp image, the accuracy of analysis based on this image can be enhanced.

In recent years, the miniaturization of the electronic parts has been accelerated, and the cross section of 3 mm x 2 mm in the past has been reduced to 0.4 mm x 0.2 mm. In order to cope with the change, the arrangement of the imaging camera and the LED as described above is preferable.

However, if the elevation angle of the imaging optical axis of the imaging camera is set as small as possible and the LED is arranged at a position as close as possible to the transport path of the transport mechanism, the imaging optical axis of the imaging camera interferes with the LED. As a result, there is a problem that a through hole for imaging the electronic component cannot be provided in the illumination mechanism, that is, the electronic component cannot be imaged.

In view of such problems, the inventors of the present application have already proposed an inspection apparatus as disclosed in Patent Document 2 below.

This inspection apparatus transports an object to be inspected such as an electronic component in a set transport direction, and inspects at least the transport direction front end surface or the rear end surface of the object to be inspected as a surface to be inspected, a transport mechanism having a transport path along the transport direction and transporting the inspection object on the transport path in the transport direction; At an inspection position set in advance on the road, an illumination mechanism for illuminating the surface to be inspected of the object to be inspected transported by the transport mechanism, and an illumination mechanism arranged on the same side as the object to be inspected and positioned at the inspection position and an imaging camera for imaging the surface to be inspected of the object to be inspected.

The illumination mechanism includes a plurality of light emitters for illuminating the surface to be inspected of the object to be inspected, and a support for supporting the plurality of light emitters. configured to support a near light emitter at a position further from the inspection position than the other group of light emitters, and between the remote light emitter and the other group of light emitters, the inspection position The imaging camera is disposed on the back side of the support and passes through the space of the support to allow observation of the surface to be inspected of the object to be inspected from the back surface of the object to be inspected. It is configured to image a surface to be inspected.

According to this inspection apparatus, the object to be inspected is transported on the transport path by the transport mechanism, and at the inspection position on the transport path, the surface to be inspected is illuminated by the illumination mechanism, and the imaging camera detects the object to be inspected. An inspection surface is imaged.

In the illumination mechanism, at least the light emitter closest to the transport path is arranged at a position farther from the inspection position than the other group of light emitters, so the light emitter closest to the transport path can be used. An appropriate distance can be set between this and the other group of light emitters in a state of being as close to the transport path of the transport mechanism as possible, and the surface to be inspected of the object to be inspected can be placed in this portion. A space can be provided for imaging.

By adopting such a configuration, the imaging camera is arranged so that the angle (elevation angle) formed between the imaging optical axis and the transport path is as small as possible, that is, it is positioned as close to the transport path as possible. With the image pickup camera arranged in this manner, the surface to be inspected of the object to be inspected can be imaged from the front as much as possible. Accordingly, the image of the surface to be inspected captured by the imaging camera can be captured as a larger image, and as a result, the appearance properties of the surface to be inspected can be inspected with high accuracy.

Further, as described above, since the light emitter closest to the transport path can be placed as close to the transport path as possible, more reflected light from the surface to be inspected is taken into the imaging camera. Therefore, the image captured by the imaging camera can be made clearer. Thus, by obtaining a clear image of the surface to be inspected, the appearance properties of the surface to be inspected can be inspected with high precision.

JP-A-5-288527 JP 2014-160016 A

However, although the inspection disclosed in Patent Document 2 has the above-described favorable effects, further improvements have been desired in the following points.

That is, in the field of electronic components such as the capacitors described above, in order to inspect the electrical characteristics of the components, a mode is adopted in which an inspection probe is brought into contact with the end surface of the electrode portion. As a result, a contact trace of the probe is generated on the end surface of the electrode portion. This contact mark is caused by the probe coming into contact with the surface and flattening rather than the other parts. If such a contact mark appears on the surface, it is difficult to distinguish it from defects such as chipping and scratching, resulting in a problem that these defects cannot be detected with high accuracy. Thus, in view of this background, there is a demand for a device to prevent contact traces of probes or the like from appearing in captured images.

The present invention has been made under the background as described above. An object thereof is to provide an inspection apparatus capable of performing inspection with high accuracy.

The present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is an inspection apparatus that transports an object to be inspected in a set transport direction and inspects at least the transport direction front end surface or the rear end surface of the object to be inspected as a surface to be inspected, ,
a transport mechanism having a transport path along the transport direction and transporting the inspection object on the transport path in the transport direction; an illumination mechanism for illuminating the surface to be inspected of the object to be inspected transported by the transport mechanism at an inspection position set in advance on the transport path; At least an imaging camera for imaging the surface to be inspected of the object to be inspected in
The illumination mechanism includes a plurality of light emitters that illuminate the inspection surface of the inspection object, and a support that supports the plurality of light emitters,
The support is configured to support at least the light emitter closest to the transport path at a position farther from the inspection position than the other group of light emitters, and the remote light emitter (hereinafter referred to as this Section, referred to as "first light emitter") and another group of light emitters (hereinafter referred to as "second light emitter" in this section), from the back surface opposite to the inspection position Equipped with a space where the inspected surface of the inspection object can be observed,
In the inspection apparatus, the imaging camera is disposed on the back side of the support and configured to image the inspection surface of the inspection object through the space of the support,
the first light emitter has a 1/2 beam angle within the range of 30° to 80°;
Said second light emitter relates to an inspection apparatus whose half beam angle has an angle in the range of 10° to 25°.

According to this inspection apparatus, the object to be inspected is transported on the transport path by the transport mechanism, and at the inspection position on the transport path, the surface to be inspected is illuminated by the illumination mechanism, and the imaging camera detects the object to be inspected. An inspection surface is imaged.

Further, in the illumination mechanism, at least the first light emitter is arranged at a position farther from the inspection position than the second light emitter. A suitable distance can be set between this and the second light emitter in a state of being close to the transport path of the mechanism, and a space for imaging the inspected surface of the inspected object is provided in this portion. can be provided.

By adopting such a configuration, the imaging camera is arranged so that the angle (elevation angle) formed between the imaging optical axis and the transport path is as small as possible, that is, it is positioned as close to the transport path as possible. With the image pickup camera arranged in this manner, the surface to be inspected of the object to be inspected can be imaged from the front as much as possible. Accordingly, the image of the surface to be inspected captured by the imaging camera can be captured as a larger image, and as a result, the appearance properties of the surface to be inspected can be inspected with high accuracy.

Further, as described above, since the first light emitter can be placed as close to the transport path as possible, more reflected light from the surface to be inspected can be taken into the imaging camera. Therefore, the image captured by the imaging camera can be made clearer. Thus, by obtaining a clear image of the surface to be inspected, the appearance properties of the surface to be inspected can be inspected with high accuracy.

The first light emitter of the inspection apparatus has a half beam angle within the range of 30° to 80°, and the second light emitter has a half beam angle of It has an angle in the range of 10° to 25°. That is, the second light emitter is a light emitter that emits light with relatively high directivity, and the first light emitter is a light emitter that emits light that has relatively no directivity. The 1/2 beam angle means an interior angle of the irradiation direction of light having a luminous intensity of 1/2 of the maximum luminous intensity emitted from the light emitter, centering on the optical axis having the maximum luminous intensity.

According to the inspection apparatus having this configuration, light with high directivity is obliquely emitted to the surface to be inspected from the second light emitter located away from the conveying path. If unevenness such as scratches or scratches is present, reflected light corresponding to the unevenness does not enter the imaging camera. Therefore, the image captured by the imaging camera has a dark portion corresponding to the unevenness, and by detecting the dark portion by subsequent image processing, it is possible to detect defects such as chips and scratches.

On the other hand, even when there is a flat contact mark formed by contact with a probe or the like on the surface to be inspected, the light emitted from the second light emitter has high directivity, so that the contact mark is The irradiated light is substantially specularly reflected and does not enter the imaging camera, and a dark portion corresponding to the contact mark is formed in the image captured by the imaging camera. As described above, since the contact trace is not a defect, it is necessary to distinguish it from the uneven portion that is defective. Can not.

Therefore, by irradiating the surface to be inspected with light having relatively no directivity from the remote light emitter arranged close to the conveying path, the reflected light specularly reflected from the contact mark is captured by an imaging camera. This can prevent the portion corresponding to the contact mark from becoming a dark portion. On the other hand, most of the light emitted from the first light-emitting device to the concave-convex portion is diffusely reflected by the concave-convex portion, so most of the light does not enter the imaging camera, and the concave-convex portion remains a dark area. Thus, by irradiating the surface to be inspected with light having relatively no directivity from the first light emitter arranged close to the conveying path, a captured image in which only the uneven portions are dark portions can be obtained. can be obtained, and only the uneven portion can be detected as a defect.

Although an LED can be exemplified as a representative example of the light emitter, the light emitter is not limited to an LED at all as long as it can illuminate the surface to be inspected with a sufficient amount of light necessary for inspection.

As described above, according to the inspection apparatus of the present invention having the above configuration, it is possible to inspect the appearance properties of the object to be inspected with high accuracy, and detect defective chippings without detecting normal contact traces. It is possible to detect only uneven portions corresponding to scratches and scratches.

Further, in order to more clearly detect only uneven portions corresponding to defective chippings and scratches without detecting normal contact traces in the image captured by the imaging camera, the intensity of the first light emitter is (illuminance) is preferably 2 to 10 times the intensity (illuminance) of the second light emitter.

Further, in the above inspection apparatus, the imaging camera is disposed so that its imaging optical axis is in a plane perpendicular to the transport path and intersects the transport path at an angle of 10° to 35°. Moreover, it is preferable that the first light emitter of the illumination mechanism is arranged such that its illumination optical axis intersects the transport path at an angle in the range of 3° to 15°.

By setting the imaging optical axis of the imaging camera and the illumination optical axis of the illumination mechanism to angles within the above range, the image of the inspection object captured by the imaging camera is made more appropriate. It is possible to inspect the inspected surface of the inspected object with high accuracy.

Further, in the above inspection apparatus, it is preferable that the illumination mechanism is configured such that the first light emitter and the second light emitter can be individually dimmed.

By separately adjusting the intensity (illuminance) of the first light emitter and the second light emitter, the brightness of the image of the inspection object captured by the imaging camera is made uniform over its entire area. can do. That is, since the first light emitter is farther from the inspection position than the second light emitter, the luminance of the portion of the inspected surface illuminated by the first light emitter is the second light emitter. However, by increasing the intensity of the first light emitter, the brightness of the entire inspection surface can be made substantially uniform. Depending on the shape of the surface to be inspected, the brightness of the surface to be inspected may become uneven. It is possible to make the brightness of the entire surface substantially uniform.

As described in detail above, according to the inspection apparatus of the present invention, the appearance properties of the object to be inspected can be inspected with high accuracy, and defects such as chips and defects can be detected without detecting normal contact traces. Only uneven portions corresponding to scratches can be detected.

1 is a front view showing an inspection device according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of FIG. 1 showing a cross section of the first and second illumination mechanisms; FIG. 3 is a side view in the direction of arrows BB in FIG. 2; 3 is a side view in the direction of arrows CC in FIG. 2; FIG. (a) is a plan view of an object to be inspected, and (b) is a side view thereof in the direction of arrow D. FIG. (a) and (b) are explanatory diagrams for explaining the 1/2 beam angle of the LED according to the embodiment. It is an explanatory view for explaining an effect of an inspection device concerning this embodiment. It is the front view which showed the inspection apparatus which concerns on the modification of this embodiment.

Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 is a front view showing an inspection apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a front cross-sectional view showing an enlarged view of FIG. 3 is a side view in the direction of arrows BB in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a side view in the direction of arrows CC in FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the inspection apparatus 1 of this embodiment includes a transport mechanism 2 for transporting an object W to be inspected in the direction of arrow A, which is the transport direction, and an object to be inspected transported by the transport mechanism 2. The first illumination mechanism 5 and the second illumination mechanism 25 illuminate the front end surface (the front end surface in the transport direction) Wa of W at the inspection position P, and the front end surface Wa of the object to be inspected W at the inspection position P is imaged. and an imaging camera 4 .

In this example, the hexahedral electronic component shown in FIG. 5 is used as the inspected object W, and its front end surface Wa is used as the inspected surface.

[Conveyance Mechanism]
The conveying mechanism 2 includes a disk-shaped rotary table 3 made of a transparent or translucent glass plate, and a driving motor (not shown) for horizontally rotating the rotary table 3 in the direction of arrow A. The object to be inspected W supplied onto the rotary table 3 so that the front end surface Wa faces the conveying direction is conveyed in the conveying direction by the rotation of the rotary table 3 . As a matter of course, the conveying path of the inspected object W conveyed by the rotary table 3 is an arcuate path.

[Imaging camera]
The imaging camera 4 is a camera that captures a two-dimensional image of the front end surface Wa of the object W to be inspected. , and the angle formed with the upper surface of the rotary table 3, ie, the conveying path, is in the range of 10° to 35°.

[First illumination mechanism]
As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the first illumination mechanism 5 includes a first support 6 and a second support 6 fixed to an end surface 9 of the first support 6 on the downstream side in the transport direction. support 13, a plurality of LEDs 12 supported by the first support 6, and a plurality of LEDs 17 supported by the second support 13. side and above the rotary table 3 .

The first support 6 has a concave curved surface 10 formed from an upstream end surface 7 in the conveying direction to a lower surface 8 , and the plurality of LEDs 12 are fixed on the concave curved surface 10 . As shown in FIG. 4, these LEDs 12 are arranged on the concave curved surface 10 so as to be positioned on three concentric circular arc rows, and in this example, 17 LEDs 12 are arranged in the outermost circular arc row. , 13 LEDs 12 are arranged in an arc row closer to the center than this, and 9 LEDs 12 are arranged in an arc row closest to the center.

Further, a recessed groove 11 is formed on the lower surface 8 of the first support 6 and opens to the end surface 9 on the downstream side in the conveying direction and the recessed curved surface 10 . It is fixed to the end surface 9 so as to close the upper part of the opening on the 9 side while leaving the upper part thereof.

On the other hand, a plurality of (six in this example) LEDs 17 are arranged in a horizontal line on the end surface 14 of the second support 13 on the upstream side in the transport direction. is located nearer to the conveying path of the rotary table 3, and is arranged at a position further away from the inspection position P than the LED 12 in the conveying direction.

An opening is formed in the end surface 9 of the first support 6 by the upper surface of the second support 13 and the inner surface of the groove 11, and the angle of the imaging optical axis is set to the above angle. The front end surface Wa of the object W to be inspected can be imaged through the opening by the image pickup camera 4 which is mounted.

Thus, the LEDs 17 arranged at a position close to the conveying path of the rotary table 3 are arranged at a position farther from the inspection position P in the conveying direction than the other group of LEDs 12. In order to image the front end surface Wa of the object to be inspected W between the groove 11 formed in the first support 6 and the upper surface of the second support 13. It became possible to form a space of

A gap is formed in the lower surface 15 of the second support member 13, which is directly above the conveying path of the rotary table 3, so that the object to be inspected W conveyed by the rotary table 3 can pass therethrough.

Also, the LED 12 has a 1/2 beam angle within the range of 10° to 25°, and the LED has a 1/2 beam angle within the range of 30° to 80°. That is, the LED 12 emits light with relatively high directivity, and the LED 17 emits light with relatively no directivity. The 1/2 beam angle means an interior angle of the irradiation direction of light having a luminous intensity of 1/2 of the maximum luminous intensity emitted from the light emitter, centering on the optical axis having the maximum luminous intensity.

FIG. 6 shows the definition of 1/2 beam angle. FIG. 6(a) shows the case of the LED 12. The interior angle θa of the irradiation direction of the light 12b, 12b having half the maximum luminous intensity is about the optical axis 12a having the maximum luminous intensity of the LED 12. is 1/2 beam angle of . Similarly, FIG. 6(b) shows the case of the LED 17. Centering on the optical axis 17a having the maximum luminous intensity of the LED 17, the interior angle θb is the 1/2 beam angle of the LED 17.

Also, the LED 17 is arranged so that its optical axis 17a intersects the conveying path at an angle within the range of 3° to 15°.

Among the LEDs 12, a group (LED group G1) arranged in the outermost circular arc row, a group (LED group G2) arranged in another arc row, and a group of LEDs 17 (LED group G3). are individually dimmable for their emission intensities.

[Second illumination mechanism]
The second lighting mechanism 25 is composed of a support 26 and a plurality of LEDs 30 and 31 supported by the support 26. The second lighting mechanism 25 is arranged directly below the first lighting mechanism 6 with the rotary table 3 interposed therebetween. is set.

The support 26 has a concave curved surface 29 formed from an upstream end surface 27 in the transport direction to an upper surface 28, and the plurality of LEDs 30 and 31 are fixed on the concave curved surface 29. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the LEDs 30 are arranged on the concave curved surface 29 so as to be positioned on three concentric circular arc rows, and in this example, 17 LEDs 30 are arranged in the outermost circular arc row, Thirteen LEDs 30 are arranged in an arc row closer to the center than this, and nine LEDs 30 are arranged in an arc row closest to the center. Further, two LEDs 31 are arranged closer to the center than the LEDs 30 in the circular arc row closest to the center.

In addition, among the LEDs 30, a group (LED group G4) arranged in the outermost arcuate row and a group (LED group G5) arranged in the other arcuate row and a group of LEDs 31 (LED group G5) each have an emission intensity of It is dimmable separately.

According to the inspection apparatus 1 of the present embodiment having the above configuration, a plurality of objects W to be inspected are conveyed on the rotary table 3 driven by the drive motor (not shown) and rotated with their front end faces Wa conveyed. The objects W to be inspected are sequentially supplied with a posture directed in a direction at predetermined intervals, and the supplied inspection objects W are conveyed by the rotary table 3 so as to pass through the inspection position P. As shown in FIG.

The inspected object W that has reached the inspection position P has its front end surface Wa, which is the surface to be inspected, illuminated by the light emitted from the LEDs 12 and 17 of the first illumination mechanism 5, and the second illumination mechanism 5. Light is emitted from the LEDs 30 and 31 of the illumination mechanism 25 and transmitted through the turntable 3 . Since the front end surface Wa is illuminated by the first and second illumination mechanisms 5 and 25 arranged vertically, the front end surface Wa, which is the surface to be inspected, is uniformly illuminated with high illuminance. be.

The front end surface Wa of the object to be inspected W thus uniformly illuminated is imaged by the image pickup camera 4, and the image data of the imaged image is analyzed by a discriminator (not shown) to determine the external appearance of the front end surface Wa. Good or bad is determined.

In the inspection apparatus 1 of this example, the LED 17 of the first illumination mechanism 5 is arranged so that its illumination optical axis intersects the transport path at an angle of 3° to 15°. The front end surface Wa of the inspection object W can be illuminated substantially from the front.

Further, since the LED 17 of the first illumination mechanism 5 is provided at a position further away from the inspection position P than the LED 12, an appropriate distance can be set between the LED 17 and the LED 12, and the above-described A space for imaging the front end surface Wa of the object W to be inspected can be formed. By forming such a space, the imaging camera 4 is arranged so that the angle (elevation angle) formed by the imaging optical axis and the transport path is in the range of 10° to 35°. can be arranged as close to the transport path as possible.

Thus, according to the imaging camera 4 arranged in this way, the front end surface Wa of the object W to be inspected can be imaged from the front as much as possible, and the front end surface Wa imaged by the imaging camera 4 can be imaged from the front as much as possible. The image can be captured as a larger image, and as a result, the appearance properties of the front end face Wa can be inspected with high precision.

Further, as described above, the LED 17 illuminates the front end face Wa of the object W to be inspected W substantially from the front, so that more reflected light from the front end face Wa can be taken into the imaging camera 4. Therefore, the image captured by the imaging camera 4 can be made clearer. Thus, by obtaining a clear image of the front end face Wa, the appearance properties of the front end face Wa can be inspected with higher accuracy.

Further, according to this inspection apparatus 1, the LED 12 located away from the transport path has a 1/2 beam angle within the range of 10° to 25°. Since the light with high directivity is obliquely irradiated to the front end face Wa of W, if the front end face Wa, which is the surface to be inspected, has unevenness such as a chip or a scratch, the uneven part is detected. The corresponding reflected light does not enter the imaging camera 4, and the image captured by the imaging camera 4 forms a dark portion corresponding to the uneven portion. Therefore, defects such as chipping and scratching can be detected by detecting the dark portion by subsequent image processing.

By the way, a flat contact mark may be formed on the front end surface Wa, which is the surface to be inspected, when a probe or the like used for inspecting its electrical characteristics comes into contact with the surface. When the front end surface Wa is illuminated using only the LED 12, the light irradiated to the contact mark is substantially specularly reflected, so that it does not enter the imaging camera 4, and is imaged by the imaging camera 4. A dark portion corresponding to the contact trace is formed in the image in the same manner as the uneven portion. As described above, since the contact trace is not a defect, it is necessary to distinguish it from the uneven portion that is defective. Can not.

Incidentally, in the inspection apparatus 1 of this example, instead of the LED 17 of the first illumination mechanism 5, the LED 12 that emits highly directional light is used to illuminate the front end surface Wa of the object W to be inspected. An image of the front end surface Wa captured by the imaging camera 4 is shown in FIG. 7(a). In FIG. 7A, the dark portion appearing at the left edge and the dark portion appearing at the lower edge are the missing portions, and the dark portion appearing at the upper right portion is the contact mark. As can be seen from FIG. 7(a), when the front end surface Wa of the object to be inspected W is illuminated using only the LED 12 that emits light with high directivity, both the defective portion and the contact trace portion become dark portions. so they cannot be identified.

Therefore, in the inspection apparatus 1 of this embodiment, the LED 17 arranged close to the transport path has a 1/2 beam angle within the range of 30° to 80°. The front end face Wa of W is irradiated with light having relatively no directivity. By irradiating the front end surface Wa of the object to be inspected W with light having relatively no directivity in this way, the reflected light specularly reflected from the contact mark can be guided to the imaging camera 4, whereby the contact mark can be detected. It is possible to prevent the part corresponding to the from becoming a dark part. Thus, by illuminating the front end surface Wa of the inspection object W using both the LED 12 that irradiates light with high directivity and the LED 17 that irradiates light with relatively no directivity, only the uneven portion It is possible to obtain a picked-up image in which is a dark portion, and it is possible to detect only the uneven portion as a defect.

Incidentally, the first illumination mechanism 5 of the inspection apparatus 1 of this embodiment is used to illuminate the front end surface Wa of the same inspection object W as the inspection object W shown in FIG. An image captured by the imaging camera 4 is shown in FIG. 7(b). In the image of FIG. 7(b), the contact mark in the upper right portion that appeared in the image of FIG. It is shown. As described above, according to the inspection apparatus 1 of this example, it is possible to obtain a captured image in which only the uneven portion is a dark portion, and it is possible to detect only the uneven portion as a defect.

Further, in the first illumination mechanism 5 and the second illumination mechanism 25 of this example, the LED groups G1, G2, G3, G4, and G5 can be individually dimmed, The front end face Wa can be uniformly illuminated by appropriately adjusting the light of the LED groups G1, G2, G3, G4, and G5. Further, it is also possible to adjust the light according to the shape of the front end face Wa, which is the surface to be inspected. By adjusting the intensity of each of the LED groups G1, G2, G3, G4, and G5 according to the shape of the surface to be inspected, it is possible to make the brightness of the entire surface to be inspected substantially uniform.

As described above, according to the inspection apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the appearance properties of the front end surface Wa of the object W to be inspected can be inspected with high accuracy.

Although specific embodiments of the present invention have been described above, specific aspects that the present invention can take are not limited to these. For example, in the above example, the front end surface Wa of the object W to be inspected is inspected, but the rear end surface Wb of the object W to be inspected may be inspected as shown in FIG. The inspection device 50 is obtained by reversing the transport device 1 in the forward and rearward directions in the transport direction with the inspection position P as the center. Therefore, in FIG. 8, the same components as those of the inspection apparatus 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the configuration and operation of each component are the same as those of the inspection apparatus 1, so the description thereof will be omitted. .

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 inspection device 2 transport mechanism 3 rotary table 4 imaging camera 5 first illumination mechanism 6 first support 12 LED
13 second support 17 LED
25 second illumination mechanism 26 support 30 LED
31 LEDs

Claims (4)

An inspection apparatus that transports an object to be inspected in a set transport direction and inspects at least the front end surface or the rear end surface in the transport direction of the object to be inspected as a surface to be inspected,
a transport mechanism having a transport path along the transport direction and transporting the inspection object on the transport path in the transport direction; an illumination mechanism for illuminating the surface to be inspected of the object to be inspected transported by the transport mechanism at an inspection position set in advance on the transport path; At least an imaging camera for imaging the surface to be inspected of the object to be inspected in
The illumination mechanism includes a plurality of light emitters that illuminate the inspection surface of the inspection object, and a support that supports the plurality of light emitters,
The support is configured to support at least the light emitter closest to the transport path at a position farther from the inspection position than the other group of light emitters, and A space is provided between the light emitter and the surface to be inspected of the object to be inspected from the back surface opposite to the inspection position,
In the inspection apparatus, the imaging camera is disposed on the back side of the support and configured to image the inspection surface of the inspection object through the space of the support,
the spaced-apart light emitters have half-beam angles within the range of 30° to 80°;
The inspection apparatus, wherein the other group of light emitters has a 1/2 beam angle within the range of 10° to 25°. 2. The inspection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said remote light emitter has an intensity of 2 to 10 times the intensity of said other group of light emitters. The imaging camera is arranged such that its imaging optical axis is in a plane orthogonal to the transport path and intersects the transport path at an angle in the range of 10° to 35°,
3. The spaced light emitters of the illumination mechanism are arranged such that their illumination optical axes intersect the transport path at an angle ranging from 3° to 15°. Inspection equipment as described. 4. The inspection apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the illumination mechanism is configured such that the remote light emitters and the other group of light emitters are individually dimmable.

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